Infra Insight Blog

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws can create significant legal risks for the delivery of complex infrastructure projects using alternative procurement strategies. On October 10, 2024, I had the pleasure of collaborating with my Nossaman colleague Rob Thornton, along with guest speaker Tim Suydam from the East County Advanced Water Joint Powers Authority, to discuss … 

Through recent updates to California’s Public Contract Code, public agencies are being equipped with new tools to deliver major infrastructure projects through use of the progressive design-build (PDB) model. As more public agencies gain access to the legislative tools available to use PDB, we expect to see an increasing number of water projects undertaken and completed successfully under the PDB or other early contractor delivery methods. … 

Insurance on a project is a vital tool with which to manage project risk. In a warming world with ever larger and more complex projects, insurance becomes that much more important to ensure that projects can stay on track after an accident or other insurable event.

Join Jim Vorhis and me on May 30th for the next webinar in our Infra Insight webinar series focused on navigating risks and adapting insurance to align with evolving methods of project delivery. We are excited to welcome our guest panelists, Michael Earp and Tariq Taherbhai from Aon Construction & Infrastructure. … 

When an infrastructure project takes the first steps from vague idea towards becoming a reality, public owners must make countless decisions on how to advance the project. One decision of particular importance is the selection of the project delivery method, which has significant impacts on the project’s timeline and budget. While many owners are familiar with a variety of project delivery methods, including alternative delivery methods such as design-build, construction manager-at-risk and public-private partnerships, knowing when to choose one option over another can ...

On June 1, 2015, a California Court of Appeal held that in order for a lease-leaseback arrangement to be enforceable, the lease must be genuine, containing both a financing component and a lease term that extends beyond the construction period (Davis v. Fresno Unified School District, et al. (2015) __CalRptr.3d__ [2015 WL 3454720].)

Background

In 2012, the Fresno Unified School District (District) entered into a negotiated agreement utilizing the lease-leaseback project delivery method for the construction of improvements at a District middle school.  The District leased the ...